


Flower, Power? || Josh Dun / Tyler Joseph

by Mind_drabbles



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Cute, Flowers, Fluff, Heartbreak, Homophobia, Kissing, Love, M/M, School Project, partners, working together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-08-03 06:14:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16320689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mind_drabbles/pseuds/Mind_drabbles
Summary: Everyone grows 5 flowers when they are born. if your heart gets broken, a flower dies. The people who have no living flowers left remain plain, unable to love.Josh has 1 flower left and is scared to love again. Tyler has 5 flowers and a crush. They get partnered for a school project.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I am so excited to write this fic, i will upload new chapters as much as possible. Hope you enjoy reading <3

He looked at the vase with an empty feeling. 4 flowers, once so colorful but now brown and hanging down weakly. In the middle was 1 last flower, a very small red rose. The edges of the petals started fading into a brown color, showing that there wasn't a lot of hope. His last chance to love. If Josh' heart got broken once more, the flower would die and he would remain plain. The plain people are humans who've been hurt 5 times, who have no living flowers in their vases. Those poor people lose the ability to love. Love others, hobbies, pets or any sort of thing. Josh was so scared to lose his last flower at such a young age so he made the promise to himself not to get close with anyone. That is why he ignored the fluttering in his stomach when the new, quiet boy in his class walked past him. 

It was a few weeks after Josh first noticed the new boy. His name apparently is Tyler but that doesn't matter to Josh. It shouldn't. But it does. Josh is mad at himself for starting to have feelings for the kid. He isn't going to waste his last chance to love on a high school crush. The brown doe eyes belonging to Tyler just make it very difficult for him. Every. Single. Day. The crinkled piece of paper in front of him helped him stay grounded. He read it everytime his heart skipped a beat because of Tyler Joseph. 

Why you, Josh Dun, shouldn't fall for Tyler:  
-you only have one more flower  
-you will lose your love for your friends and music   
-Tyler probably isn't even gay, let alone into you.   
-you haven't even talked to him (and you shouldn't... it will only make things harder)

That list is what made him stay in his seat when he saw Tyler having lunch alone, when Tyler walked out of class with tears in his eyes and when Tyler got scolded at by a few annoying boys that were in his class. The pain Josh felt when seeing this almost made him not care about his flower. Almost. 

\----

Tyler walked into the school bathroom. Tears were pooling in his eyes. The words that bullies just shouted at him were ringing in his ears. He took a deep breath and thought of his flower vase in his bedroom. 5 colorful and happy-looking flowers. He wasn't going to get his heart broken by some bullies words. He calmed down more and thought of every individual flower; sunflower, rose, tulip, poppy and a dandelion. Reciting them always made him smile and after a few more moments he went back to class. 

His life had always been wonderful. Tyler had a loving and supporting family and an amazing group of friends. He has never had a boyfriend. Yes, he is gay. He was scared his heart would get broken by loved ones when he came out but everyone was lovely to him. 

Then his dad got the promotion and they all had to move. Now his life was difficult because of the bullying. Boys and girls calling him a faggot, no one wanting to sit with him. Tyler didn't go to the same school as his friends anymore so he had nobody. It made him feel sad and lonely but he always tried to keep things positive. He mostly tried to ignore people to prevent a broken heart, yet when he saw a boy with red curls and tattoos he felt his heart stutter. No Tyler, he told himself. You know the people here don't like you.

\----


	2. Chapter 2

"Tina and Felix" read Mr Jones from his list, "Wendy and Naomi". Josh was fidgeting, knowing he was going to have to work on this big project together with someone he didn't know. He peeked at Tyler who was also looking rather nervous. He understood that as a lot of their classmates bullied Tyler. "Let's see... Tyler and Josh" the teacher said. Josh' head shot up and he made eyecontact with a blushing and shy Tyler. He looked so cute and suddenly Josh found himself being excited for the project. Damn it.

"Hi i'm Josh" he said with a smile as he sat down next to Tyler. Tyler almost whispered when he said "H- hi I'm Tyler. So- sorry you have t- to work with me." He looked so anxious that Josh just wanted to hug him. "It's okay, you seem really nice!" Josh said, making Tyler blush even more. The rest of that class they exchanged phone numbers and decided to text each other about when they could work on the project. 

\----

23:30  
J: Hey Tyler, it's Josh from school!  
T: Hi! You are up late.   
J: So are you haha...  
T: Yeah you're right. Can't sleep... But anyway, what days could you work on the project?  
J: I can do tuesdays and fridays? Maybe saturdays?  
T: I have basketball training on fridays so how about tuesdays and saturdays?  
J: Great!  
T: *thumbs up*

And with that Tyler lets himself fall back on his bed with a big smile on his face. He may or may not have a crush on this boy. Best thing is that Josh doesn't seem to hate him and is really nice. Tyler wonders what Josh' flowers look like and falls asleep with an image of lilies and tulips on his mind.

\----

Josh sighs. What did he do to deserve this? Why does it seem like the entire universe wants him to lose his love. Being partnered up with the cutest boy ever. At this point there was no doubt that he was in it deep for Tyler. Josh closed his eyes and the last thing he saw before dozing off was his rose. 

The next day Tyler was waiting for him outside the classroom. "We never talked about where we are going to work on the project... is my house okay? We can walk there as it's not far." Josh swallowed at the thought of Tyler's house and bedroom and gave him a shy nod. "Okay let's go!" Tyler beamed. The walk to his house was a little bit awkward but once Tyler mentioned owning Mario Kart, the ice was broken and they chatted away. 

Tyler's bedroom was exactly the way Josh imagined it to be. Colorful with posters of bands and a music corner where his ukulele hung on the wall and his keyboard stood. Josh liked it a lot and complimented Tyler on it. Tyler smiled and Josh forced himself to think about the list amd his flower. He had to stay distant. So they started on the project right away and Josh said the least words possible. Tyler frowned a bit at his short responses but went with it anyway.

\----

Tumblr > Ukuleleplayer-Tyler  
New post:   
"Have you ever felt like you are floating on clouds? In the sky as blue as his eyes? He is beautiful. Never before did i feel like this but it's exciting."

Tyler had to write something on his tumblr about Josh. The boy filled him with a warm feeling he could only describe as a crush. Tyler's tumblr existed of little posts about feelings he had and lyrics he wrote. It felt like his journal and he poured his heart out on the site. 

\----

Josh sat in the middle of his room. On the floor. He liked Tyler a lot and was thinking about just accepting it. He was also thinking about his 4 brown flowers. His broken heart experiences. 

An orchid for the time he kissed his best friend and first male crush on the mouth. His best friend pushed him away and punched him. Then he made sure everyone in school bullied Josh. 

A lily for his mom and a lily for his dad. When he came out as gay they disowned them. He got kicked out of their house with nothing but a bag of clothes and a few belongings. 

And finally a daffodil belonging to George. When Josh got kicked out he slept on the couch of a distant friend he had. That friend dragged Josh with him to a party where he met George. A handsome man who was a few years older than him. After a week full of talking with each other Josh moved in with him. He was smitten and gave George every part of him, his virginity included. Until 4 months ago Josh walked in on him making out with his own friend (the distant one). 

After all this he gained the confidence to contact his aunt, who let him stay in the guest room. And that's where he is now. Josh and his 4 dead flowers.

\----


	3. Chapter 3

The next saturday Josh went to Tyler's house again to work on the project. After working for about two hours Tyler looked up at Josh with a doubtful smile. Tyler felt a bit shy and insecure because Josh sometimes acted distant but he was also very nice and occasionally made a joke. "Remember i told you about the Mario Kart game i have? Wanna play for a bit?" Tyler asked hesitantly. Josh' face lightened up with a smile and he nodded. 

They ended up playing for almost 3 hours. Tyler lost almost everytime, Josh never had to know it was because Tyler kept glancing at him to see his cute concentrated face. "Holy shit, it's so late! I'm gonna go now, sorry for staying so long" Josh said whilst jumping up and grabbing his coat. Tyler grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Wait! You can stay for dinner if you want? My parents are out of town for the weekend and i don't want to be lonely" Tyler said. Josh just gaped at him for a moment, considering what felt like his biggest life choice. Honestly, maybe it was. "Okay, i can stay if that's not a problem" he finally responded. "It really isn't. You should probably let your parents know that you are staying though." Josh looked at the ground when he said "I don't really have any contact with my parents but i will call my aunt who i live with." And with that he turned around and quickly walked to the hallway to make the call.

His aunt was fine with it, which relieved Josh. Only problem now was a guilty-looking Tyler. "You okay?" Josh asked whilst picking up another slice of pizza. "I guess... sorry that i mentioned your parents. Sounds rough." Tyler said softly, his eyes scanning Josh' face to check whether he wanted to talk about it. Normally, Josh hated talking about his parents, flowers and feelings but Tyler's eyes made him feel so comfortable and open. "It was, they didn't accept me when i came out to them as gay." Josh explained. Tyler's eyes widened and he nearly choked on a bite of his pizza. After coughing for a moment, he apologised and said "That's horrible, i am gay too but my family was okay with it." Now Josh was the one who tried to hide his stupid crazy excitement that Tyler was gay too. Josh stuttered out "Thats... thats good! Happy to hear that." After that they ate the rest of their pizza with some more casual chatter.

After dinner, Josh helped with cleaning the kitchen and they both got soaking wet after starting a water fight while doing the dishes. They both sat down on the floor, laughing and gasping for air. Josh shook the water out of his hair and when he stopped he spotted a pair of beautiful eyes on him. They locked eyes and Tyler shifted a bit closer. He leant in and... "Sorry Tyler, sorry I can't" Josh cried out. Tyler jumped away, terrified he had hurt Josh in some way. "Sorry Josh, o god, are you okay?" Josh held his head in his hands. "Yeah... It's not you Tyler. I just... i have 1 flower..." Tyler's mouth fell open. "Josh, i'm sorry to hear that and i understand you. Sorry that i almost ruined it." Josh sighed and tears pooled in his eyes "It's okay. I don't have a future plan but i know i will lose my flower someday. I can't stop myself from falling in love, you know?" Tyler nodded. He knew.

\----

After a bit of comforting hugging and chatter Josh went home. He cried all night and felt broken by not kissing Tyler. But he wasn't truly broken, because his rose still gave a weak glow of red. 

Tyler went to his room later that night and his heart dropped when he saw his flowers. There were still five but his tulip's petals turned a very faded brown on the edges. He had been close to having a broken heart today. He thought about it. It probably wasn't really the kiss not happening, it was knowing 4 people had the luck to love Josh but broke him anyway. He felt powerless and even though he really, really wanted to be Josh' boyfriend, he would never want to cause Josh' last flower to die.


	4. Chapter 4

It was tuesday after their classes, when they were on their way to Tyler's house again. The project was going very well and they worked on it during class as well. Once they were in his room, Tyler went to get them some tea and he asked Josh to grab his books from his bag. Josh searched through Tyler's bag, what a mess. He found a black book and a red book. Tyler returned and went a bit pale when he saw the black book in Josh' hands. "It's the red one. You haven't read the black one right? It's my songwriting notebook." Josh shook his head no and had to resist himself from quickly opening it and reading the lyrics. 

"Tyler?" "Yes?" "I can't stop thinking about your song book. Can i possibly read something? Anything?" Josh asked. Tyler thought it over for a moment and responded "okay but i have to take some out." Josh smiled happily. Tyler took his book, flipping through the pages and tearing a few out. "Here you go, most of them are trash." "I doubt that" Josh smiled. He flicked through the pages but stopped when he saw his name scribbled in the marge of a page. First there was what seemed like a full chorus or verse;

"He’s the tear in my heart  
I’m alive  
He’s the tear in my heart  
I’m on fire  
He’s the tear in my heart  
Take me higher  
Than I’ve ever been"

Josh almost teared up and his heart felt like it was fluttering. He read the piece of text.

"Sometimes you gotta bleed to know  
That you’re alive and have a soul  
But it takes someone to come around  
To show you how"

And he broke. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Tyler jumped up when he saw that happening and went to hug Josh but hesitated. Josh took a deep breath and pulled Tyler against him. "Are you sure?" Tyler whispered. Josh nodded and closed the gap between them. It felt like a thousand flowers grew inside of him. Like his ability to love had already disappeared and only now came back. Tyler smiled into the kiss and pulled back a bit to say "Josh? I won't let your flower die." Josh smiled and felt so happy. A very small part of him didn't believe Tyler's words but it didn't matter. He rather felt this love for now and never again than never feeling love this intense anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading my fic! I love hearing opinions and prompt ideas in the comments <3


End file.
